Project Lead – R Cooper
Project Team - S Park, RA Cooper, GG Grindle
Airlines currently require WC users to travel in an airline passenger’s seat. To transfer to a passenger seat, first, people must transfer from their WC, or one provided by the airport to a boarding chair, then, transfer from the boarding chair to a passenger seat. However, during transferring, strain, discomfort, physical pain, and falls can be caused since boarding chairs are commonly narrow and laterally unstable. Furthermore, some MW users cannot safely sit in either the boarding chair or an airline passenger seat because they require specialized seating and postural support. When considering these issues, to provide better and safer service for WC users, there is a need for a WC that they can transfer into in a suitable location, use for mobility within the airport with dignity and comfort, as well as that can be used for boarding the aircraft and accessing their seat.
Therefore, in line with a project developing an airport-use manual WC (D1), described in the development section, the specific aims of this project include an in-lab user evaluation of the Alpha prototype (Y2), and a usability testing of the Beta prototype at the airport with WC users and airport staff (Y4).